Road grader



July 1, 1930. w sc c s Er AL 1,769,716

ROAD GRADER Filed Aug. 24, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented July 1, 1930 tune WILLIAM J". SCELACKS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND CLYDE B. FAVERTY, OF HAMMONI), INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO RYAN MNFG. CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS ROAD GRADER Application filed August 24, 1927. Serial No. 215,070.

Our invention relates to road graders and has for its broad object, to improve the operation of graders particularly those of recent development such as described in the copending applications of Daniel C. Hinds, Serial No. 689,416, filed January 30, 1924:, now Patent No. 1,732,892, and patent applications describing subsequent developments and assigned to the same assignee.

The grader to which our invention is particularly adaptable has a wheeled frame adjustable with respect to' the wheels and a drawbar having a universal joint connection to the front of the frame. A crank mechanism is supported approximately midway of the frame and is connected by links to the rear end of the drawbar. A circle frame is rotatably secured on the drawbar and supports a mold board in depending position therefrom. Means must be provided for rotating the circle frame and in this typefof grader, the large number of adjustable parts with the correspondingly numerous positions, makes it very much of a problem to operate the circle, frame from the rear of the grader so that it will function at all times in an 'eflicient manner. The great size and weight of the circle frame assembly also increases the problem of mounting the same so as to make it easily rotatable and still strong enough to bear the greatest strains incident to operating the grader.

These graders have their adjustable members power driven from a central power source and it is of course necessary to provide shafting from the central power source to the circle frame with a power connection on the circle frame which cannot be disturbed or thrown out of balance when unusual conditions are encountered during a grading op eration. A gear'must be" provided on the circle frame on-either the inside or outside periphery thereof and a driving gear operated by suitable shafting communicating with the sourceof power, must mesh at a suitable location with the circle frame gear. The arrangement should be such that a heavy strainon the mold board during a grading operation, will have no tendency to pull the teeth of the two gears out of engagement and the gear must be positioned so that the angularity of the shafting communicating the power to the'gears, is reduced to a minimum. It is obvious that when the circle frame is rotatably mounted so as to be moved easily, such mounting may be inclined to yield slightly, and when this condition exists the advantage of properly locating the drive is still more apparent.

These elements being understood, it is ap-' parent that one of the most specific objects of our invention is to provide an improved circle frame drive.

Another object is to provide a circle frame drive in which a working strain will tend to improve the connection from the power source to'the circle frame.

Another object is to drive acircle frame in such a way tliat the universal joints in the shafting have a minimum possible movement.

ther objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the details of the description taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion grader illustrating our invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view thereof of a partly in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; p

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4 -4: of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 55 of Fig. 2. I

A grader to which our invention may be applied is shown in the copending applications referred to above and is provided with, a drawbar 10 of bifurcated form having a ballll at its front end adapted to form part of a universal oint forconnecting the drawbar to a mainframe 12. The front end of the drawbar is supported by the universal joint and means may be provided such as de'- scribed in the cope nding applications for raising or. lowering the front end of this portion of the mechanism. Near the rear endof I the'bifurcations making up the drawbar, are brackets 13 and 14 for making connections to links 16 which depend from a crank mechanism (not shown) carried by the main frame.

The crank mechanism is operable to shift the drawbar about the ball 11 to a number of different positions and the entire crank assembly carryin the drawbar with it, is adapted toswing sicfiaways of the frame. The details of this mechanism are not shown in the present case since they do not constitute a part thereof, but are of interest only in explainilig the details of the circle drive and the advantages secured thereby, and the obstacles which had to be overcome to make the present structure ossible.

The bi rcations of the drawbar are formed of any suitable material as for example I-beams, and are secured at the apex in any suitable manner. They are at their rear ends by a cross-piece 17 and anintermediate brace 18 and near point where each one of the braces is aged to the bifurcations of the drawbar, a p j ket 19. is provided. Each one of the brackets is provlded with a stud shaft 20 on which a bevel roller 21 is rotatably secured h ra flange 20. A circle frame 22 has a lower beveled section 23 corresponding with tie slope of the bevel on the rollers so that t e frame is rotatably supported by the rollers 21 in the manner illustrated. Near the rear of the circle frame, a pair of dependarms 26 are secured, having a suitable connection with a mold board 27. The arms 20 are secured on the outside of the circle frame and will interfere in no respect whatsegver with the complete turning of the circle framethrough an arc of 360. 7 'i The up r inside portion of the circle frame is ormed into a continuous internal gear 28, this gear being preferably integral with the frame but being formed separately if desired. It is through engagement with gear that the circle frame is driven to obtain a vertically arcuate adjustment of themold b ard.

In the drive for the circle frame, a ear t 31 is secured across the bifurcations of t drawbar and has a housing 32 for supporting a spur gear 33 meshing with the circle gear. The gear 33 is secured by a key or otherwise to a shaft 34 journaled verticallgsin the support 31 and having a worm that secured at the upper end thereof. A casing 36 integral with the supports 31 M32. incloses a worm 37 secured on a shaft I is 'ournaled in the side-walls of Mhousing, t a worm being in meshed relathe worm gear and driving the A tiniversal joint 41 connects the Wm 38 with a shaft 42 leading to a Mb .lhaft143 and connected thereto by unithe same no matter what the position of the grader parts.

From the bevel gear assembly at the front of the drawbar, the shafting extends back to the rear of the grader main frame, a series of universal joints being provided so that the shafting can be extended in the form of an are over the top of the frame and out of the way of all moving parts. An arran ement is made at the rear of the grader or the application of power to this shaft, the power being supplied by the driver through the operation of a hand wheel or preferably from a central source through a suitably disposed transmission gear mechanism.

In carrying the shafting back to the source of power, the small stub shaft 48 is connected by means of a universal joint 51 to a sleeve shaft 52 of angular cross section into which is disposed a correspondingly shaped rod 53 The shaft 48 is set with respect to the shaft 43 so as to represent the mean angle which the shaft 42 will bear with respect to the shaft 52 during movements of the drawbar. In other words the reatest and smallest angles are plotted and the mean result em loyed to determine the position of the sha t 48. In this way, the smallest possible angularity in this universal joints of the shafting will resu t.

By placing the circle driving gear at the front thereof, the possibility of the strain on the mold board forcing the circle gear and driving gear out of mesh is done away with. Such placing of the drive at the front is possible on account of the position of the shafting which is so arranged that all of the moving parts including the crank mechanisms are avoided. The articular arran ement of the driving shaft is also of utility when employed with the combination shown as a study thereof will readily indicate.

Attention should be called to the specific arrangement of rollers for the circle frame and the disposition of the circle frame on the rollers so as to obtain a flexible easily moved mounting but which at the same time will be strong enough to support the great weight of the circle frame and mold board. It will be observed that the circle frame has two sections thereof in contact with the rollers, namely a vertical section and an angular section, both of these sections however, being continuous and extending entirely aroundthe frame. The rollers are set in an angle and have a straight section and bevelled section, the position thereof being such that the angular section on the circle frame rests thereon and the bevelled sections able, the bevelled section of the roller may bear some or all of the weight of the circle frame assembly.

Although this structure is more sturdy than would be expected when its great flexibility is considered, still it is more apt to permit slight movement of the'circle frame than if a more inflexible mounting were provided. For this reason, the specific type of drive herein described is of great utility.

Although we have described a specific embodiment of our invention, it is obvious that we are not necessarily restricted thereto, and the invention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 1

What we claim as new and desire to secur by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a road grader, a main frame, a drawbar having its front end pivoted to the main frame, a circle frame rotatably secured to the drawbar, an internal gear carried by the circle frame, a driving gear on the inside and at the front end of said circle frame meshing with the circle frame gear, a fixed shaft connection from the driving gear to the front of the drawbar, and an adjustable shaft connection continuing from the front of the drawbar over the main frame for connecting to a suitablev source of power at the rear of the grader.

2. A grader as defined in claim 1 with a pair of meshed gears at the front of the drawbar, one gear connecting with the shaft extending to said driving gear, and the other connected with the shafting extending over the main frame to the source of power.

3. A'grader as defined in claim 1 with a housing on the front end of the drawbar and a pair of stub shafts journaled in the housing and positioned one below the other and a pair of meshed gears secured on said stub shafts, a connection between the lower stub shaft and the shaft running to said drive I gear and a universal connection between tl e other stub shaft and the shafting extending over the main frame to said source of power.

l. A grader as defined in claim 1 with a housing on the front end of the drawbar and pair of stub shafts j ournaled in the housing one below the other and pair of meshed gears secured on said stub shafts, a connection between the lower stub shaft and the shaft running to said drive gear and a universal connection between the other stub shaft and the shafting extending 6;. over the main frame to said source of power,

the angle of the upper stub shaft with re.- spect to the lower being the mean between the two angles formed by the shafts at highest and lowest drawbar positionsrespectively.

' 5. In a road grader, a main frame, a drawbar having its front end attached by a universal joint to the main frame, a linkconnection to the unpivoted end of the drawbar for adjusting theposition thereof, a plurali-- ty of bevelled rollers. carried by the drawbar,

a circle frame rotatably supported by the rollers and having a continuous gear on the inner periphery thereof, a driving gear sup,- ported by the drawbar and meshing with the circle frame gear at the front thereof, a shaft extending from the driving gear to the front of the drawbar, an adjustable shafting from the frontof the drawbar over the main frame to a suitable source of power, and a bevel gear connection for the two shafts at the front end of said drawbar.

,6. In a road grader, a main frame, a drawbar having its front end attachedby a universal joint to themain frame, a plurality of bevel rollers carried by the drawbar, a circle frame having its lower inside periphery shaped tobe engaged by the rollersfor supporting the circleframe and having its upper inside periphery formed into a coin tinuous gear, a support mounted on the draw bar and having a stub shaft journaled vertically therein, a spur gear secured to the lower end ofi'said shaftand meshing with the, circle gear, a worm gear secured to the upper end of saidshaft, a Worm in meshing relation with saidv worm gear'and shafting from said worm to a. suitable source of power at the rear of the grader. I c

7. In a road grader, a main frame, a drawbar having its front; end attached by a universal joint to the main frame, a plurality ofbevel rollers carriedwby the drawbar, a circle frame having its lower inside peripheryshaped to be engaged. by the rollers for supporting the circle frame and having its upper inside peripheryv formed into a continuous 'gear, asupport mounted on the drawbar and having a stub shaft journaled vertically therein, a spur gear secured to the lower end of said shaft and meshing with the circle gear at the frontthereof, a worm gear at the top of said shaft, a shaft extending from said worm gear to the front end of said drawbar and an adjustable shaft extending from the front end of the drawbar and making connection with the shaft leading to said worm to the rear of the grader for a connection to a suitable source of power.

8. In a road grader, a main frame, a drawbar having its front end attached by a universal joint to the main frame, a plurality of bevel rollers carried by the drawbar, a circle frame, having its lower inside periphery shaped to be engaged by the rollers for sup porting the circle frame and having its up 3.:

per inside periphery formed into a continuout I, a support mounted on the drawbar and avmg a stub shaft journaled vertically therein, a spur gear secured to the lower end of said shaft and meshing with the circle 2! at the front thereof, a worm gear at top of said shaft, a shaft extending from said worm gear to the front end of said drewbar, adjustable shafting extending from m the front of the drawbar over the top of the main frame to a suitable source of power at the rear of the grader and a fixed bevel ear connection between the two shafts lea ing to the front of the drawbar.

15 a 9. In a road grader, a circle frame with a mold board secured thereon, said circle frame having an angular flange section and a vertical section, and rollers for supporting the circle frame having sections engaging under 20 the angular flange section for supporting the w ht of the frame, and a vertical section for ing against the vertical section of the circle frame.

10. In a road grader, a circle frame with a vertical section and a lowerangular sectien extending outwardly from the vertical section, and a plurality of supporting rollera within the circle frame at an angle thereto, said rollers having a bevelled as section for engaging the vertical section of the circle frame, and a straight section ongaging under the angular section of the cirele frame and normally supporting the weight of said frame.

1 "In a road grader, a circle frame with a compound bearing surface at the lower inside periphery thereof and a gear on the upper inside thereof, a plurality of rollers for engaging said frame on said compound 0 surface and supporting the same, and a driving gear on the inside front of the circle from contact with the gear on the circle -In whereof we hereunto subscribe 4;. our names. 7

WILLIAM J. SCHLACKS. CLYDE B. FAVERTY. 

